1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an amusement system which is mainly intended for infants and to be installed in an amusement section in an amusement park, a department store or a supermarket.
2. Description of Related Art
As well known, various amusement systems are installed in amusement parks and the like. For example, there are known amusement systems which comprise a horizontal rotary shaft, arms fixed to the shaft and a seat fixed to the arms, whereby the seat is rotated or pivoted about the rotary shaft within a vertical plane. With these systems, a player on the seat bodily senses the gravity during ascent and the zero gravity during descent. That is, the player can easily get a special bodily sensation that cannot be experienced in daily life. These amusement systems have gained great popularity among adolescents.
Roller coasters are also well known as amusement rides which cause riders to feel speeds and thrills. In recent years, amusement rides of an improved type have been proposed which are provided with a loop portion and a sudden reverse portion for enhancement of the feeling of speeds and thrills. These amusement systems which also give riders a special bodily sensation that cannot be experienced in daily life, have gained great popularity among adolescents.
However, the aforesaid amusement systems have been developed for adolescents who have a sufficient physical strength, and a limited number of amusement systems have been developed for infants.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an amusement system for infants which gives infant players a special bodily sensation that cannot be experienced in daily life.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention to achieve the aforesaid object, there is provided an amusement system, which comprises a mattress provided on a floor in a playing space to allow a player to play thereon, the mattress comprising a bag of a flexible sheet and fluid liquid filled in the bag. The bag of the mattress is not necessarily required to be fully filled with the fluid liquid, but some gas may be present therein. Needless to say, the bag needs to be gas-tight for prevention of leakage of the liquid filled therein. The flexible sheet which; forms the bag may be stretchable.
In the amusement system having the aforesaid construction, the player walks around on the mattress constituted by the bag of the flexible sheet filled with the fluid liquid and, at this time, a portion of the mattress on which the player touches down is substantially depressed and the other portion of the mattress is substantially raised. Therefore, the player can get a walking feeling different from that obtained when the player walks on the ground.
When a plurality of players simultaneously walk around on the mattress, the upper surface of the mattress is waved in an unexpected way. Therefore, some players are raised on the mattress by the waving motion of the mattress caused by the other players, thereby feeling as if they were surfing. Thus, the players can get a surfing feeling that cannot normally be experienced, without wetting their bodies.
In the amusement system, at least a top flexible sheet portion of the bag of the mattress may be transparent. Where some air is present in the bag or floatable ornamental objects are present in the liquid, the player can see the air (air bubbles) or the ornamental objects moving around in the bag as the player moves around on the mattress. Therefore, the amusement system can provide visual amusement in addition to the aforesaid special walking feeling and surfing feeling. Further, the liquid filled in the bag may include a plurality of types of liquids which are immiscible with each other and different in specific gravity. With this arrangement, the player can see the interfaces between the liquids intricately moving as the player moves around on the mattress. Thus, the amusement system provides an additional visually amusing effect. In this case, the plurality of types of liquids preferably have different colors. With this arrangement, the player can see distinct interfaces between the liquids. Thus, the amusement system further provides an aesthetic effect.
In the amusement system, the bag of the mattress may be partitioned into a plurality of cells as viewed in plan, and the liquid may be filled in the respective cells. With this arrangement, even if the plurality of players are localized in one portion of the mattress, a moderate waving motion of the mattress can be ensured without extreme depression in that portion and extreme inflation in the other portion. However, if the bag is partitioned into too many cells, the upper surface of the mattress is less liable to be waved. Therefore, the number of cells in the bag should properly be determined so that the moderate waving motion of the mattress can be ensured, and the volume of the liquid to be filled in each cell in the bag should be smaller than the volume of the cell. Further, at least an adjacent pair of the cells may contain differently colored liquids. Thus, an additional aesthetic effect and visually amusing effect can be provided by color combination.
The amusement system may further comprise a frame which surrounds the mattress. With this arrangement, the strength and shape retainability of the entire mattress can be improved. However, the frame is not necessarily required to be provided separately from the mattress, but may be integrally attached to the side faces of the mattress.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an amusement system, which comprises: an annular frame portion comprised of an air-filled tubular bag of a synthetic resin sheet; and a mattress portion having upper and lower portions of a flexible sheet, and an inner space defined by the upper and lower portions and an inner circumference of the annular frame portion and filled with fluid liquid, whereby a player can play on the mattress portion.
At least one of the upper and lower portions of the mattress portion may be comprised of a plurality of annular air-filled tubular bags concentrically connected to one another. Further, the frame portion may be comprised of a plurality of annular air-filled tubular bags vertically connected to one another as projecting upward above the upper portion of the mattress portion.
The amusement systems may further comprise pressing means for applying an external force to the liquid. The pressing means is manually or automatically operated to partially press the liquid, so that the upper surface of the mattress can readily be waved. With this arrangement, even if only one player is present on the mattress, the player can get the surfing feeling. The pressing means is not necessarily required, because an equivalent waving effect can be provided when a person outside the amusement system directly presses the upper surface of the mattress by hands.